


A Long Time Ago

by Isis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Date Night, F/M, Foreshadowing, appropriate pop culture references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-14
Updated: 2004-07-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 13:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17426375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis/pseuds/Isis
Summary: It's 1977. Arthur and Molly see a Muggle movie.





	A Long Time Ago

**Author's Note:**

> Written in July 2004 as a gift-ficlet for florahart, who asked for "Young Molly and Arthur with just the first couple of kids, first night alone in a while." (I'd offered ficlets of 500 words exactly to my LJ flist to celebrate 500 friends.) Originally posted on LJ and recently rediscovered.

For a while Arthur was worried that they wouldn't make it out of the Burrow in time. Molly had checked that all the kitchen cupboards were securely latched and that the floor was swept (Percy was crawling and tended to put anything he found into his mouth), then made him go over the emergency fellytone instructions with her brothers a dozen times. Just as they had turned toward the fireplace and taken handfuls of Floo powder, she rushed back to Gideon. "Charlie might go sleepwalking - he's done it several times, now. Be sure he doesn't -"

"We can handle it," Gideon said firmly, placing his hands on her shoulders and shoving her gently towards the fireplace.

"But -"

Fabian rolled his eyes in Arthur's direction before turning a calm face to Molly. "We're fine. Go have fun."

The journey by Floo powder was the usual disorienting whirl. Arthur landed in the Leaky Cauldron and took hold of Molly's arm. "Ready?"

"I suppose," she said, nervously smoothing her Muggle-style skirt. She'd worried aloud several times that the clothes weren't half so flattering as her usual robes. Silly woman. To him, she'd look good in a flour sack.

And it wasn't as though they were going to be around anyone who knew them, he thought as he held open the door to Muggle London. 

"Oh!" squealed Molly as a car went by. "Those are…is that…?"

"Isn't it lovely?" It was his secret dream to get his hands on a car. One day, maybe. 

"I suppose." She stared, awed at the sights and sounds around her as he guided her down the pavement.

At the cinema he fumbled in his pocket for the brightly-coloured paper the Muggles used as money. "How can you keep track of that?" she whispered as they entered the darkened room and found a place to sit.

"Ballenger over in Misuse of Muggle Artefacts gave me a short course. And," he added, "he said there might be an opening next month, and he'll recommend my transfer."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed, prompting a loud shushing from behind them. Guiltily, they settled into their seats.

* * *

Molly was uncharacteristically subdued as they exited. "Didn't get you down, did it?" he asked, anxious. This was supposed to have been a treat - their first night out alone in years.

"Oh, no. But that Darth Vader fellow…it sounds silly, I know -"

"He reminded you of You-Know-Who."

She nodded. "It just made me think. What kind of world are our children going to live in?" Her hands went reflexively over her belly, still only slightly swollen. "And my brothers, on the front lines…"

He looked at her set expression and made a sudden decision. The ice-cream parlour could wait for another evening. "Back to the Burrow?"

"Yes," she said, the lines on her face easing as she smiled, radiant as a princess from another galaxy. With a final look at London, he stepped into the Leaky Cauldron to begin their journey home.


End file.
